Saturday, January 14, 2012

Help Fund Kyle's Hunt





Kyle Stolarz is a 10 year old little boy who lives in NJ and is currently in the 5th grade. When Kyle was born his umbilical cord had strangled him causing multiple bleeds in his brain which in turn made him suffer a stroke. When Kyle was delivered he was having a seizure and barely breathing. His parents were told to not expect him to live thru the night. Kyle was transferred to the NICU where he stayed for two weeks. He was sent home with a diagnosis of seizures, apnea and cerebral palsy. His mom and dad were told they did not know what other problems Kyle would have as he got older as he suffered a lot of brain damage.

Thru the years Kyle's seizures remained uncontrolled and almost took his life on more than one occasion. Kyle has had to overcome many hurdles in his young life. He did not walk until he was two and did not really start speaking until he was about 7 years old.

In 2010 Kyle's seizures got worse and he was having them on a weekly basis. His seizures tend to last a very long time (45 mins to an hour-the longest lasting 7 hours). He was on so many medications that he could barely walk or even feed himself. He spent most of the school day sleeping at this desk or on the floor. What speech he had gained he was now losing and any memory he had was also fading very fast. His neurologist at CHOP asked that we bring Kyle in to have him evaluated for brain surgery. So in June '10 we headed to CHOP for a week and took Kyle off his medications to capture seizures in the hopes of removing that part of his brain that was causing the issues.

While we were there something happened that we did not expect. While off of all his medications Kyle only had one seizure!! This was a shock to everyone. So after a week we were sent home on one medication and told we would probably have to add on more. Kyle had a few small seizures with his last being in Sept 2010. Kyle has not had a seizure in over a year on just one medication!! This to us is truly amazing but we still do worry about them coming back. Once Kyle came off of all meds it was like he was reborn experiencing life for the first time. He could walk again, feed himself and was able to stay awake all day! Kyle has worked very hard to regain all that he has lost. Due to his brain damage learning is much harder for Kyle but he try’s his hardest.

Today Kyle is happy, healthy and awaiting the arrival of his new sibling which may share a birthday with him. Kyle's current diagnosis is Epilepsy, Cerebral Palsy and Mild Mental Retardation. Kyle is 10 in number but not mentally. His doctors have told us he may reach an age where he just stops learning. We will be sad when that happens but we still have our amazing Kyle who was not supposed to be here!!

Kyle's dad is an avid hunter and it is Kyle's dream to go hunting. He even has snow boots that are camo that he calls his "hunting boots". Kyle's dad would love to take him but it would be hard to watch both Kyle and Liam and feel he is keeping them both safe. I know when Kyle finds out he can hunt he will throw on his hunting boots and be ready to kill some deer (as he puts it!).



You can help fund Kyle's hunt by sending a donation to:
John R. MacCallum
847 Forest Avenue
Brown Mills NJ 08015



No comments:

Post a Comment